Moonlight
by Koopasaur
Summary: When Mao Mao begins worrying about himself and the people he loves, Badgerclops attempts to comfort him in his time of need. Contains bonding, fluff, family, and emotional hurt and comfort.


It was a cool, summer night in the Pure Heart Valley. The sky was clear, and stars glistened in the evening sky. Everything was at peace, which was contrasted by the day's earlier events.

Mao Mao and his friends had spent the day defending the village from danger twice in a row, first from a large-scale monster attack, and second from Orangusnake and the Sky Pirates trying to steal the Ruby Pure Heart.

The damage from the day's conflict was widespread. Half of the buildings in town were disintegrated by the large, lizard monster's acid breath, and the castle in the center of the village was damaged heavily by the numerous laser blasts which came from the Sky Pirate's airship.

Although the structural damage was something that could be dealt with easily by the heroes, the Sweetiepies were a different story. The citizens of the village were extremely distraught over all of the mayhem which had occurred in the village, and it didn't help that they all directed their frustrations and anger onto Mao Mao alone.

Easy to say, everyone from the Sheriff's Department was exhausted from the day's events. As soon as they arrived home, Adorabat and Badgerclops went to bed, falling asleep in mere minutes.

Mao Mao, however, was not sleepy in the slightest. Although he appeared cool and collected on the outside, his heart was racing and his stomach was churning.

His mind began to race, "What if I can't protect the valley, what if it's too much for me?" his inner voice blurted out. "What if I can't protect Adorabat or Badgerclops? What if they end up getting hurt because I'm not strong enough?"

As the night progressed, the thoughts just kept coming, and with each one, Mao Mao began to feel more and more uneasy. He knew he needed to leave the house so he wouldn't disturb Adorabat or Badgerclops with his emotions.

Quietly, the cat tip-toed out of his home and began walking through the forest that surrounded the village. The cool summer wind blew through the feline's soft black fur as he walked through the dimly-lit forest. The sounds of cicadas chirping and the swaying of branches filled the summer air, and yet, the sounds did nothing to calm Mao Mao down.

After a few minutes of walking, Mao Mao came across a beautiful lake, hidden within the depths of the forest. He was taken aback by the beauty of the area. The lake was surrounded on all sides by light, yellow sand, which was extremely fine and delicate. The full moon had illuminated the lake, making it shine a pale blue color.

Immersed in his surroundings, Mao Mao made his way to the shoreline, his paws sinking in and out of the soft sand. As his paws met the cool water washing over the shore, he sighed. He sat down and let the water wash over his legs.

For a brief moment, he let his mind go clear, letting himself focus on everything that surrounded him. The fine sand, the soft waves, the swaying trees, the singing cicadas, he let every part of nature fill his body.

Just as he was getting used to the peaceful, meditative feeling, he heard a rustling emanating from the forest. He quickly jumped up from the sand and unsheathed his katana, readying himself for a potential attack.

"Who's there?" Mao Mao shouted, his voice cutting through the silence that enveloped the forest. For a moment, there was nothing, until suddenly out of nowhere, something white and round began rolling towards him at a fast speed.

Before he could react, Mao was hit by the rolling object and sent flying into the air until he landed harshly on the ground below. As he got up, he quickly shook out the sand out of his fur and looked around, looking for whatever had hit him. When he looked near the shoreline he found what had hit him, and he was shocked to see it was Badgerclops. His large friend was lying motionless in the sand.

Mao Mao sheathed his katana and rushed over to his friend and shook him quickly. "Badgerclops, Badgerclops! Are you alright?"

The large badger quickly opened his yellow eye and sat up, causing Mao Mao to jump into the air. "Oh, hey man, what's happening?" Badgerclops asked sheepishly.

"What's happening? WHAT'S HAPPENING? That's what you're asking? How about what the heck are you doing here?"

"Wow, wow, easy Mao, I can explain." Badgerclops began.

"I was hungry for a midnight snack. After eating some of those leftover hamburgers I'd left in the fridge, I'd noticed that you'd vanished from your bunk. I started looking around the house like crazy for you, and eventually, I came across your footprints on the front lawn. I didn't know if you'd gotten hurt or something, so I ran out the front door and started sprinting. Somewhere along the way in the forest, I must have tripped on a rock, and that was when I began rolling. Eventually, I ended up here on my butt."

"Well, I guess that makes sense." Mao Mao grimaced. "But you need to be careful where you step, you know. You could've hurt yourself."

"Yeah yeah, dad, I know." Badgerclops grinned.

"But seriously, you should head back to HQ and get some sleep. I don't want you to be tired if there is another monster attack tomorrow." The black cat said, shuffling his hind-legs in the delicate sand below.

"And what do you plan on doing? Staying here for the entire night? You should be coming back home with me."

"Well, you know, I have to be here! I was doing some training, that's all! If I trained back at HQ, then I might have woken you or Adorabat up while you were sleeping."

"At one o'clock in the morning?" Badgerclops questioned. "Seems a little ridiculous since you ALWAYS train in the morning with Adorabat."

"Well, I mean..."

"And aren't you the one who always says that sleep is "necessary training for your spirit"? Well, I find it pretty funny that you are sitting in front of this lake instead of sleeping in your bunk."

"Well, that doesn't mean anything, I think you're looking a little too far into things." Mao retorted, as his ears began to perk up.

"Well yeah, it doesn't mean anything on its own, but I saw how you were when we got back to HQ after battling the Pirates today. You were completely silent, which you never are after a big battle! You're usually ecstatic, and you always talk to Adorabat afterward about how she can improve her fighting skills."

Mao Mao was silent. He didn't have any ammunition to fight back with. He knew Badgerclops was onto him. He gritted his teeth.

"Come on man, I know something is wrong."

"Nothing is wrong Badgerclops, I think you should just stop."

"Mao, you know, you don't have to be embarrassed about how you feel. Everybody has stuff they have a hard time with."

"Knock it off Badgerclops!"

"I know you like to be the cool hero on the outside, but you can tell me how you-"

"Badgerclops, stop!" Mao Mao exploded. "I don't need anyone, especially you, getting involved with my stupid feelings! Why don't you just leave me alone!"

At that moment, the forest had completely stopped. Not a cicada sang nor branch swayed. It seemed like the entire world had halted its movements in response to the emotion.

Badgerclops was stunned as he stood in front of his best friend. He had never heard Mao Mao this upset before. He didn't know how to respond to what he had just said, so he just stood there, quietly waiting for his friend to do or say something.

Mao Mao didn't realize the impact of what he had just said until he looked directly into his friend's singular, yellow eye. Badgerclops had a tear running down his face as he just stared at his best friend.

Tears began to well in Mao Mao's eyes, and at that moment, he finally let his emotions free from deep inside of his soul. Mao Mao buried his face into Badgerclops' chest and began to cry, clutching his fur with his small paws. Badgerclops wrapped his arms around his friend and hugged him, both of them comforting each other in the summer moonlight.

Badgerclops' warmth and safe embrace allowed Mao Mao to finally calm down after an entire day of anxiousness. Mao Mao hadn't felt so at ease in a very long time. Not since childhood, where his mother comforted him in this same way.

After a couple of minutes, Mao Mao's crying finally subsided. Badgerclops broke the hug, and Mao Mao looked up at his friend. Badgerclops wiped the remaining tears from his cheeks.

"Badgerclops, I'm sorry." Mao Mao sniffled. "I shouldn't have said that to you. You must think I'm a big jerk."

"Dude, there's no need to apologize. You obviously were just upset, and that's all." Badgerclops said. "And you're definitely not a jerk, I know from experience."

"Well if I'm not a jerk, then I'm a weakling." Mao Mao whispered.

"What? What do you mean "a weakling"? You're one of the strongest dudes I know!"

"It's not about how strong I am in combat, Badgerclops, it's about how I-" Mao Mao began, before hesitating.

"Come on man, you can tell me."

"No Badgerclops, if I were to tell you, then I'm just as weak as the Orangusnake and the Sky Pirates."

Without hesitation, Badgerclops grabbed his friend by the shoulders and pulled him close to his face.

"No, you're not! Telling someone how you feel doesn't make you weak! Whatever you've kept bottled inside, I know, it's been eating you alive. Trust me, I know how that feels, and I don't want you to feel what I felt before. So please, just let it out now so I can help you feel better!"

The duo stood quietly on the shoreline, staring into each other's eyes for a moment before Mao Mao finally gave into Badgerclop's pleas.

"Lately, I've just felt kinda...scared. Scared because of everything that has been going on in the valley. I've been thinking that if I'm not strong enough, I won't be able to protect the valley, or you and Adorabat. I just… I just couldn't live with myself if you two ever got hurt because of my weakness."

Badgerclops removed his paw from Mao's shoulder and put it on the cat's head, beginning to stroke his friend's soft ears gently.

"Listen, Mao, in all honesty, I don't think anything that serious could happen. But in the one-and-a-million chance it does, we've trained a ton dude, and I and Adorabat know what to do if things ever got really bad, so you don't have to worry about it."

Mao Mao nodded quietly in response.

"And to be completely honest, I think all of your fears have been coming from you trying to do everything by yourself."

"You have to realize is that you can't always rely on yourself to accomplish things. Sometimes, you need to fall back on other people and let them help you. That's what friends are for, after all." Badgerclops said, smiling.

Mao Mao began to feel a warm, fuzzy feeling inside. Out of everybody that had entered and left his life, Badgerclops was the only one who was able to truly understand how he felt. He didn't want to say it, but he felt that Badgerclop's was more of a brother than any of his sisters were to him.

"Yeah, you're right." Mao Mao responded. Badgerclops offered his paw to Mao Mao. Mao Mao smiled back and they did their signature friendship handshake.

"Truly, thank you Badgerclops. I honestly wouldn't know what to do if I didn't have you around."

"You'd probably go crazy and roam the streets like some kind of comic-book villain." Badgerclops snarked.

"Aw, shut up." Mao Mao responded, with a sly grin across his face. "Anyway, we should go home and finally get some shuteye."

"Sure, let's go, I'm sooo tired after all that walking," Badgerclops complained. "Exercising is the worst!"

As the two began walking towards the thick forest, Mao Mao stopped, sinking his toes in the sand below. "Badgerclops, wait!"

"What's up, man?" Badgerclops responded, turning to face his friend.

"Um, would you mind carrying me back to HQ, I'm a little tired from..."

Without hesitation, Badgerclops used his biomechanical arm to reach for Mao Mao. The large badger slowly pulled him into close to his chest and into his arms. Mao Mao blushed as he became situated in his friend's arms.

"Who knew you were such a softie when you are upset?" Badgerclops said as he walked into the forest with his friend. At this point, Mao Mao didn't really care about how embarrassing this would be under normal circumstances. All he cared about was how comfortable and safe he felt in his best friend's embrace.

After a few minutes, Mao Mao closed eyes and melted into Badgerclops' arms. The sound of his friend's heartbeat soothed him, and eventually, the black cat finally drifted off to sleep.


End file.
